Engaging Communities of Faith

Hi, I'm a part of the group Reaching out to the Religious Community on Prop 8 on Facebook. I believe that we need to take to the offensive and engage the communities of faith in civil dialogue. This could be done in workshops and forums where people get to speak on both sides. It would not be a debate, because that might be polarizing, but I think the issue we should focus on is freedom. We have to focus on the freedoms that we as Americans enjoy but also counter the misinformation campaign that wants to suggest that we want to strip places of faith of the right to choose what to believe. The ads suggesting that preachers would be sued for their preaching were very effective in that they created an atmosphere of fear which drove people who might be reasonable when it comes to gay rights into a sense of feeling that they had to defend their places of worship.

I do not want to suggest that we stay on the defensive by only seeking to allay the fears of the Yes on 8 people. We should also seek to turn around the dialogue to discuss how the LGBT community has been victimized by those who have dehumanized them, whether it is through religious rhetoric or not. We need to communicate to the preachers that they have the responsibility to also protect the dignity of the community by preaching that human rights must be respected no matter what their personal beliefs are. They need to address the many hate crimes perpetuated against the LGBT community and that they condemn all acts of violence against them.

I think it is VERY important that preachers who do support the gay civil rights movement come out in full support of the community and stand by us if we want to engage the faith communities. We have to realize that they would feel most comfortable engaging their peers instead of the LGBT community by itself.

The problem is that when it comes to people of faith, those behind Prop 8 side have taken full advantage by suggesting that gay marriage and the May 15, court decision were an attack on Christianity. They have taken the few examples of those who have committed vandalism to suggest that we on the No on 8 side are thugs who want to suppress people of faith who were only defending the principles of religious freedom. We need to take that concept back and frame the issue ourselves. We need to frame the argument by using the words of the May 15 court decision here below...

Finally, affording same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the designation of marriage will not impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official, or any other person; no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs. (Cal. Const., art. I § 4.)

This needs to be made clear. Those opposing gay marriage want to make it a freedom of religion issue coupled with a freedom of speech issue. The leaders behind Prop 8 want to suggest that this is a slippery slope down the road to government coercion of the churches, much like Nazi Germany, the comparison which was made here. Churches in Nazi Germany were forced to conform to the Nazi's ideology there. There are those who fear that this might happen here. Communication is key in dispelling such myths which are designed to stir up fear in people of faith in order to suggest that gay marriage would be the ruin of their churches.

The hardest thing and I shall talk about my experience is coming out. One issue that we need to address especially in our groups is the intimidation and the ostracizing that many people of faith who belong to the LGBT community face in their places of worship. It is not easy to speak out when people are labeling you as an abomination or a sinner. It is not easy to speak when it feels like 99% of the congregation or whatever is against you. I would love to brainstorm ways we can become visible in our communities of faith, especially those that are not considered LGBT-friendly. The silence of the closet is deafening and it is not easy to shatter the silence. I have only come out with one person whom I trust very much. Fortunately, my experiences were very positive. However, it was a harrowing experience, and one I do not care to experience in the short term as it was still very emotionally draining. There is room for compromise where we can protect the right of the community to get married while protecting religious freedom under the Constitution.